United Nations Development Programme in the Arab States

Funded by the government of Saudi Arabia UNDP raffles off 350 housing units to families in Gaza

26 May 2014

Gaza - With funding from the Government of Saudi Arabia, 350 families are the proud owners of houses handed over to them by UNDP’s Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People in cooperation with the Municipalities of Rafah and Beit Lahia and the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. The USD 25 million project has generated over 100,000 workdays for workers in the construction industry at a time when unemployment in the Gaza Strip is over 41 percent.

The housing units in Al Malek Abdullah neighborhood in Rafah and Al Ameer Nayef Bin Abdel Aziz neighborhood in Beit Lahia will alleviate the suffering of families who had their houses demolished in Rafah during the 2001 Israeli operation in Philadelphia corridor and those who had their houses damaged in 2009 due to the Cast Lead operation.

In his speech on behalf of UNDP’s Special Representative of the Administrator Frode Mauring, Mr Basil Nasser highlighted that the number of units constructed through this project are not enough to solve the growing housing crisis in the Gaza Strip. Yet the efforts made by the different partners have helped provide a safe and stable place for people to live and call home.

The Rafah housing project included the construction of 300 housing units in 126 buildings, two schools, a mosque, sewage pumping station, water, sanitation, telephone, electricity and road networks. The housing units in Beit Lahia are 50 percent complete and are constructed in 13 buildings. Each unit is built over a 145 m2 in addition to a basement, an elementary school, mosque, water and sewerage and electricity networks.

It is worth noting that the Gaza population is expected to increase to 2.1 million in 2020, resulting in density of more than 5,800 people per square Kilometre. Gaza is facing a current shortfall of 71,000 housing units according to the UN 2020 report, putting high demand on public infrastructure and services.